Mobile robot and method for operating the same

ABSTRACT

A mobile robot, capable of communicating with neighboring devices in a 5G communication environment and capable of efficient cleaning via machine learning based on such communication, comprises a main body configured to move in the movement space, a driving unit mounted on the main body to move the main body, a receiving unit configured to receive moving history information of a user robot that has been moved by a user in the movement space, a memory in which a computer-readable program and map information of the movement space are stored, and a control unit configured to communicate with the receiving unit, the memory, and the driving unit to control the main body, wherein the control unit establishes a moving area of the mobile robot based on the moving history information of the user robot received by the receiving unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), this application claims the benefit ofearlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 10-2019-0084013, filed on Jul. 11, 2019, the contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a mobile robot and a method foroperating the mobile robot, and more particularly, to a mobile robot anda method which allows an autonomous mobile robot to move in a movementspace based on a moving history of a user robot that previously moved inthe movement space.

Description of Related Art

The following description is only for the purpose of providingbackground information related to embodiments of the present disclosure,and the contents to be described do not necessarily constitute relatedart.

Robots have been developed for industrial use and were partiallyresponsible for factory automation. In recent years, the field ofapplications for robots has been further expanded to, for example,medical robots and aerospace robots. In addition, household robots thatmay be used in ordinary homes are being developed. Among these robots, arobot capable of autonomously moving is called a mobile robot.

An example of a mobile robot used in a home may be a cleaning robot.This cleaning robot is a device for cleaning a certain area bysuctioning dust or foreign matter around the cleaning robot whileautonomously moving in that area.

The cleaning robot is a device that performs a task while autonomouslymoving in a predetermined area. However, since a general cleaning robotis not capable of confirming the information on the area that it hascleaned, cleaning is performed according to a predetermined pattern.Accordingly, a conventional cleaning robot may repeatedly clean an areathat has already been cleaned, thus reducing cleaning efficiency.

In addition, an example of a user robot used in a home may be a wired orwireless vacuum cleaner. This wired or wireless vacuum cleaner is adevice operated by a user for suctioning dust or foreign matter in asurrounding area.

As such, since the user robot suctions dust or foreign matter around thearea that the user moves, there may be a space that did not get cleaneddue to the user's mistake or an obstacle such as furniture or an objectplaced in the space that is being cleaning. Accordingly, the space thatdid not get cleaned should get cleaned again.

Accordingly, there is a need for a technology that allows a cleaningrobot to clean a space that has not been cleaned or a space that shouldbe cleaned again after the space has been cleaned by a user robotaccording to a request from the user.

As an example of a mobile robot allowing a cleaning robot to clean, byestablishing a cleaning pattern through a user, Korean PatentRegistration No. 10-0821162, entitled “Control method and system ofcleaning robot,” discloses that by establishing a cleaning areaaccording to a user instruction, an area that should be cleaned may getcleaned preferentially.

The above-mentioned document describes a technique for establishing apreferential cleaning area for the cleaning robot by using a userterminal, and allowing the cleaning robot to clean based on the setpreferential cleaning area. However, the above-mentioned document doesnot specifically disclose a technique that allows the cleaning robot toclean a space that has not been cleaned or a space that should becleaned again after the space has been cleaned by a user robot.

In addition, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2005-0119815,entitled “Multi-mode cleaning robot,” proposes a technology capable ofautomatic cleaning and manual cleaning according to a program selectedby a user.

According to the above-mentioned document, automatic cleaning can beperformed according to a given program for autonomous cleaning, a usercan do cleaning from a distance by using a remote control, or cleaningcan be done by the user while using a vacuum cleaner in manual mode.

That is, the above-mentioned document proposes a technology capable ofautomatic or manual cleaning according to a condition selected by theuser. However, a technology that allows a cleaning robot to clean aspace that has not been cleaned or a space that should be cleaned againafter the space has already been cleaned by a user robot is notspecifically disclosed.

Accordingly, there is a need for a method that allows a cleaning robotto autonomously clean a space that has not been cleaned or a space thatshould be cleaned again after the space has already been cleaned by auser robot.

The background art described above may be technical information retainedby the present inventors in order to derive the present disclosure oracquired by the present inventors during the process of deriving thepresent disclosure, and thus is not necessarily a known art disclosed tothe general public before the filing of the present application.

RELATED ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents

Related Art 1: Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2005-0119815(2005 Dec. 22.)

Related Art 2: Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0821162 (2008 Apr. 3.)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a mobile robot thatmay automatically clean an area that a user did not clean or an areathat needs to be cleaned again after having already been cleaned by theuser.

In addition, another embodiment of the present disclosure is to enable acleaning of a movement space through an interaction between anautonomous mobile robot and a user robot, thereby allowing even cleaningof the entire space.

Still another embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide theautonomous mobile robot for acquiring a map of the entire movementspace, and after the user robot cleans the movement space, may extractan area that the user could not clean or an area that needs to becleaned from the acquired map of the movement space. Accordingly, themovement space may be entirely cleaned.

Still another embodiment of the present disclosure provides that whenthe autonomous mobile robot acquires the map of the entire movementspace, the mobile robot learns of an obstacle disposed in the movementspace and excludes the learned obstacle from a cleaning area so thatwhen the mobile robot cleans the movement space, the mobile robot mayclean the movement space while avoiding the obstacle.

The objective of the present disclosure is not limited to theabove-mentioned objectives and other objectives and aspects of thepresent disclosure which are not mentioned can be understood by thefollowing description, and will be more clearly understood by theembodiments of the present disclosure. It is also to be understood thatthe objectives and aspects of the present disclosure may be realized bythe means indicated in the claims and combinations thereof.

An embodiment of the present disclosure is directed to providing anapparatus capable of establishing a moving area of a mobile robot movingautonomously in a movement space, based on a moving history of a userrobot that has been moved by a user in the movement space, in order toallow the mobile robot to move in the movement space.

Specifically, the mobile robot may include: a main body configured tomove in the movement space; a driving unit mounted on the main body tomove the main body; a receiving unit configured to receive movinghistory information of a user robot that has been moved by a user, inthe movement space; a memory in which a computer-readable program andmap information of the movement space are stored; and a control unitconfigured to communicate with the receiving unit, the memory, and thedriving unit to control the main body.

Here, the control unit may establish the moving area of the mobile robotbased on the moving history information of the user robot received bythe receiving unit.

The mobile robot may move only in an area in which the user robot hasnot moved. Accordingly, as the mobile robot moves, in other words,cleans, only in the area in which the user robot did not move, in otherwords, not cleaned, the area that did not get cleaned may be cleaned,thus the movement space may be evenly cleaned.

In addition, the mobile robot may move from the position where themovement of the user robot had stopped, that is, the position where thecleaning had stopped.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiving unitof the mobile robot moving autonomously in the movement space mayreceive a movement stoppage status of the user robot based on the mapinformation, wherein the mobile robot may include a position measuringunit configured to establish a beginning of the moving area on the mapbased on the received movement stoppage status of the user robot.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thecontrol unit of the mobile robot moving autonomously in the movementspace may determine whether the movement stoppage status of the userrobot is received, and when the movement stoppage status of the userrobot continues for more than a predetermined period of time from thetime when the movement stoppage status was received, may cause thedriving unit to move the main body to an area in which the user robotdid not move, based on the moving history information.

The movement stoppage status of the user robot may be information of theuser robot having not moved for more than the predetermined period oftime from a specific time point. Here, when the moving history of theuser robot does not become generated for more than the predeterminedperiod of time from a specific time point, it may be determined thatthere is no occurrence of moving history of the user robot. This maymake it possible to precisely measure the time when the mobile robotmoves.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the mobile robotmay further include: a camera configured to photograph an externalobject, wherein the memory stores a machine learning model trained usinga data set labeled for obstacles that restrict the movement of the mainbody, wherein the mobile robot may include: a determining unitconfigured to determine a route along which the main body may move inthe moving area, by inputting an image of an object in the moving areaphotographed by the camera into the machine learning model, and whereinthe control unit may control the driving unit such that the mobile robotmoves along a movable route determined by the determining unit.

That is, when the mobile robot moves, it is possible to recognize anobstacle and move while avoiding the obstacle so that a collisionbetween the mobile robot and the obstacle may be prevented.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the mobile robotmay further include a map acquiring unit configured to acquire the mapinformation of the movement space based on the moving information of themain body in the movement space and a transmitting unit configured totransmit the map information to the user robot.

Meanwhile, a user robot that is moved by a user according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may include: a user robot mainbody; a user robot receiving unit configured to receive map informationof a movement space from a mobile robot that generates the mapinformation while moving autonomously in the movement space; a userrobot memory in which a moving history of the user robot main body thathas been moved by a user, in the movement space is stored based on thereceived map information of the movement space; and a user robottransmitting unit configured to transmit the information on the movinghistory of the user robot main body to the mobile robot when themovement of the user robot main body stops according to a predefinedcondition.

The user robot transmits, to the mobile robot, the information on themoving history of the user robot, and the mobile robot may establish amoving area based on the received moving history of the user robot.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the predefinedcondition of the user robot may be defined as whether or not a movementstoppage status of the user robot continues for more than apredetermined period of time.

Here, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the userrobot may further include a signal generating unit configured togenerate a signal about the movement stoppage status of the user robot,which is transmissible to the mobile robot, when the movement stoppagestatus of the user robot continues for more than the predeterminedperiod of time.

That is, it may be possible to precisely determine the time when themovement of the mobile robot starts.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the signalgenerating unit of the user robot may further generate the informationon a position where the movement stoppage status of the user robotoccurred.

That is, by determining the position where the movement of the userrobot stops, the mobile robot may start moving from the position wherethe movement of the user robot had stopped. As such, the cleaningefficiency of the mobile robot may be improved by cleaning around anarea that needs to be cleaned.

A moving method of a mobile robot moving autonomously in a movementspace according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include:collecting and storing map information of the movement space in whichthe mobile robot moves; transmitting the map information to a user robotmoved by a user; receiving a movement stoppage status of the user robotbased on a moving history of the user robot that has previously moved inthe movement space; and establishing a beginning of a moving area of themobile robot on the map based on the received movement stoppage statusof the user robot.

Here, the establishing the beginning of the moving area of the mobilerobot may include detecting an obstacle placed in the moving area; anddetermining a movement route along which the mobile robot may move,based on a position of the detected obstacle.

As such, it is possible to clean a movement space that should becleaned, through an interaction between an autonomous mobile robot and amovable user robot, thereby allowing uniform cleaning of the entirespace that needs to be cleaned.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the collecting andstoring map information of a movement space of the moving method of amobile robot may include storing a machine learning model trained usinga data set labeled for obstacles that restrict the movement of themobile robot, and wherein the establishing the beginning of the movingarea of the mobile robot may include identifying the obstacle in themoving area based on the machine learning model and establishing amovement route to avoid the identified obstacle.

That is, the moving method of a mobile robot may provide learning anobstacle disposed and placed in the movement space, and excluding thelearned obstacle from a cleaning area so that when the mobile robotcleans the movement space, the mobile robot may clean the movement spacewhile avoiding the obstacle.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the establishingthe beginning of the moving area of the mobile robot may includeestimating a position where the movement stoppage status of the userrobot occurred, on the map of the movement space, based on the movinghistory of the user robot.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the establishingthe beginning of the moving area of the mobile robot may includedetermining whether the movement stoppage status of the user robotcontinues for more than a predetermined period of time; and when it isdetermined that the movement stoppage status continues for more than thepredetermined period of time, moving the mobile robot to the positionwhere the movement stoppage status occurred.

This may make it possible to precisely determine the time when themovement of the mobile robot starts.

A method for operating a user robot that is moved by a user according toan embodiment of the present disclosure may include: receiving mapinformation of a movement space, which is acquired by a mobile robotwhile moving in the movement space autonomously; acquiring and storing amoving history of the user robot that has been moved by a user in themovement space, based on the received map information of the movementspace; and transmitting the acquired moving history of the user robot tothe mobile robot.

According to the method for operating a user robot, in a state in whichan autonomous mobile robot acquires a map of the entire movement space,after the user robot cleans the movement space, it may be possible toextract an area that the user could not clean or an area that needs tobe cleaned from the acquired map of the movement space. Accordingly, themovement space may be cleaned entirely.

According to the method for operating a user robot, the transmitting theacquired moving history of the user robot to the mobile robot mayinclude determining whether the movement of the user robot stopsaccording to a predefined condition.

In addition, according to the method for operating a user robot, thepredefined condition may be defined as whether or not a movementstoppage status of the user robot continues for more than apredetermined period of time.

In addition, the method for operating a user robot may further includegenerating a signal informing a movement stoppage status of the userrobot, which is to be transmitted to the mobile robot.

That is, when the moving history of the user robot does not becomegenerated for more than the predetermined period of time from a specifictime point, it is may be determined that the user robot has finishedcleaning the movement space. As such, it may be possible to preciselydetermine the time when the mobile robot should start moving.

According to mobile robot comprising, a driving unit configured to movethe mobile robot, a receiver configured to receive movement historyinformation of a user robot in a movement space, a memory configured tostore map information of the movement space and one or more controllersconfigured to determine at least one area in the movement space formoving the mobile robot based on the received movement historyinformation of the user robot.

And according to user robot, comprising, a receiver configured toreceive map information of a movement space from a mobile robot, whereinthe map information is generated based on autonomous movement of themobile robot in the movement space, a memory configured to storemovement history of the user robot in the movement space based on thereceived map information and a transmitter configured to transmit themovement history to the mobile robot when movement of the user robot isstopped according to a predefined condition.

In addition, according to method for operating a mobile robot, themethod comprising, storing map information of a movement space based onmovement of the mobile robot in the movement space, transmitting the mapinformation to a user robot operated by a user, receiving a movementstoppage status of the user robot including a movement history of theuser robot in the movement space and determining a start location formoving the mobile robot based on the received movement stoppage statusof the user robot.

According to method for operating a user robot, the method comprising,receiving map information of a movement space from a mobile robot,wherein the map information is generated based on autonomous movement ofthe mobile robot in the movement space, storing movement history of theuser robot in the movement space based on the received map informationand transmitting the movement history to the mobile robot when themovement of the user robot is stopped according to a predefinedcondition.

Other aspects and features other than those described above will becomeapparent from the following drawings, claims, and detailed descriptionof the disclosure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an autonomousmobile robot may acquire map information of a movement space andtransmit the acquired map information of the movement space to a userrobot. Thereafter, after the user robot having stored the mapinformation cleans the movement space, the user robot may transmit, tothe mobile robot, the information on a space within the movement spacein which the user robot has not moved, that is, a space that has notbeen cleaned, which is extracted in response to the acquired mapinformation. Based on the transmitted information on the space that hasnot been cleaned, the mobile robot may suction, for example, foreignmatter and garbage while moving in the space that has not been cleanedby the user robot, thereby minimizing the area that has not been cleanedin the movement space.

In addition, when the mobile robot cleans while moving in the movementspace, it may be possible to prevent the mobile robot from collidingwith obstacles in the movement space. Specifically, a machine learningmodel trained using a data set labeled for obstacles is stored in themobile robot so that when the mobile robot is adjacent to an obstacle,the mobile robot may move while avoiding the obstacle, based on thestored data set.

The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those mentionedabove, and other effects not mentioned may be clearly understood bythose skilled in the art from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an embodiment showing a mobile robot,

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an embodiment showing a user robot.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of amobile robot, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of auser robot, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an interaction betweena configuration of a mobile robot and a configuration of a user robot,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which, after a mobilerobot acquires a movement space map and a user robot moves in themovement space, an area in which the user robot has not moved is shownon the map, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a modification of a user robot,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a moving process of a mobile robot,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a moving process of a user robot,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a moving process of amobile robot in a movement space through an interaction between themobile robot and a user robot, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter the embodiments disclosed in this specification will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thepresent disclosure may be embodied in various different forms and is notlimited to the embodiments set forth herein. Hereinafter in order toclearly describe the present disclosure, parts that are not directlyrelated to the description are omitted. However, in implementing anapparatus or a system to which the spirit of the present disclosure isapplied, it is not meant that such an omitted configuration isunnecessary. In addition, like reference numerals are used for like orsimilar components throughout the specification.

In the following description, terms such as “first,” “second,” and thelike may be used in describing various components, but the abovecomponents shall not be restricted to the above terms. The terms areonly used to distinguish one component from the other. Also, in thefollowing description, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the,” include pluralreferents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the following description, it will be understood that terms such as“comprise,” “include,” “have,” and the like are intended to specify thepresence of stated feature, integer, step, operation, component, part orcombination thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, partsor combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, an autonomous mobile robot according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to thedrawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an embodiment in which amobile robot and a user robot are implemented, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic blockdiagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile robot, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a schematic blockdiagram illustrating an interaction between a configuration of a mobilerobot and a configuration of a user robot, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

Although a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described, for example, as an autonomously movingcleaning robot, it is needless to say that the mobile robot may beoperated in semi-autonomous or manual modes in addition to autonomousmode. In addition, the mobile robot capable of machine learning andautonomous moving according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay be any one of robots that may be operated in autonomous orsemi-autonomous modes in addition to a cleaning robot.

A mobile robot 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay suction an object, such as dust and garbage, located in front of themobile robot 100 while moving along a movement route.

The mobile robot 100 may suction foreign matter and dust while movingalong a predetermined movement route.

In addition, although a user robot 10 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described, for example, as a cleaning deviceoperated by a user, the user robot may be any one of a plurality ofmanual devices that are moved in a movement space by the user.

The user robot 10 of an embodiment of the present disclosure maysuction, for example, garbage, foreign matter, and dust, in the movementspace. Here, since the user does not move the user robot 10 in aconsistent direction while cleaning, it is difficult to evenly clean themovement space.

In order to address this limitation, in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the autonomous mobile robot 100 may acquire a map M (seeFIG. 5 ) of the movement space, and transmit the acquired map M of themovement space to the user robot 10. Thereafter, in a state in which themap M is stored, after the movement space is cleaned with the user robot10 by the user, a space that has not been cleaned in the movement spaceis extracted, in response to the acquired map M. The information on theextracted space that has not been cleaned by the user robot 10 istransmitted to the mobile robot 100, and based on the receivedinformation, the mobile robot 100 suctions foreign matter, garbage, anddust while moving in the space that has not been cleaned by the userrobot 10. As such, the space that did not get cleaned due to an obstacleor due to the user failing to notice the space may be cleaned by theautonomous mobile robot 100, such that the movement space may be cleanedentirely.

As such, the autonomous mobile robot 100 may include a main body 120forming an outer shape of the mobile robot 100; a driving unit 160mounted on the main body 120 to move the main body 120; a receiving unit130 configured to receive the information on a moving history of theuser robot 10 that has previously moved in the movement space; a memory140 in which map information of the movement space is stored; and acontrol unit 190 configured to communicate with the receiving unit 130,the memory 140, and the driving unit 160 to control the main body 120.

Here, the map information of the movement space may be previously formedand transmitted to the mobile robot 100 or may be formed throughinformation acquired using various sensors while the mobile robot 100moves in the movement space.

To this end, the mobile robot 100 may include a map acquiring unit 110that may acquire the map information of the movement space while themain body 120 moves in the movement space, which will be describedlater.

The map information acquired by the map acquiring unit 110 may betransmitted to the user robot 10. To this end, the mobile robot 100includes a transmitting unit 170 that may transmit the map informationto the user robot 10.

The main body 120 may be in the form of any one of various shapes suchas a circular shape, and a polygonal shape, and the shape of the mainbody 120 may change according to conditions.

In addition, the main body 120 may include a suction unit 122 capable ofsuctioning, for example, dust and foreign matter, and the main body 120may further include a suction device (not shown) and a dust collectingcontainer capable of collecting the suctioned dust, in order to suction,for example, dust and foreign matter through the suction unit 122.

In addition, the main body 120 includes a battery. The battery is aconfiguration for supplying power required for overall operation of themobile robot 100 in addition to the driving unit 160, which will bedescribed later. Such a battery may be charged in a charging stationwhen the remaining battery level is measured to be less than apredetermined reference value. Here, the battery reference value may bestored in the memory 140, and when the remaining stored battery level isless than the reference value, the control unit 190 may cause thedriving unit 160 to move the mobile robot 100 to the charging station.

To this end, the mobile robot 100 is configured to include an algorithmthat allows the mobile robot 100 to return to the charging station at anappropriate time and allows the mobile robot 100 to detect the positionof the charging station while returning.

The main body 120 may include a photographing unit 124 forphotographing, for example, videos and images of a plurality of itemssuch as furniture and objects, placed in a movement space S, in order toacquire the map information. The photographing unit 124 may be, forexample, a video sensor or a camera, and the video or image photographedby the photographing unit 124 may be stored in the memory 140.

The photographing unit 124 may be a camera capable of photographing anexternal object. The image of the object photographed by thephotographing unit 124 is stored in the memory 140 and may be image datafor determining whether movement of the main body 120 is possible in amoving area in which the mobile robot 100 should move.

In addition, the main body 120 may include a sensor (not shown) capableof measuring, for example, placement positions of various items placedin the movement space and the shape of the movement space to acquire themap information of the movement space.

The sensor may be any one of a distance sensor and a collision sensor,and the sensor may generate information on the items placed in themovement space, using, for example, the distance between the main body120 and the item, or a collision between the main body 120 and the item,as measured by the sensor.

The driving unit 160 is configured for rotating and moving the main body120 to cause the mobile robot 100 to move. Specifically, the drivingunit 160 may include at least one driving wheel. The driving wheel maybe installed on one side of the main body 120, but the conditions underwhich the driving wheel is installed may change according to theconfiguration of the mobile robot 100. In addition, the main body 120 orthe driving unit 160 may include a separate driving motor for thedriving wheel and may be driven by the driving motor.

The condition for moving the mobile robot 100 is established before themobile robot 100 moves via the driving unit 160. An embodiment of thepresent disclosure will describe, for example, that the mobile robot 100moves around an area that has not been cleaned with the user robot 10 bythe user to clean the movement space.

To this end, information on the moving history of the user robot 10 thathas previously cleaned the movement space is needed. The information onthe moving history of the user robot 10 may be received by the receivingunit 130 mounted on the mobile robot 100.

Specifically, the receiving unit 130 may receive information on themoving history of the user robot 10 that has been cleaning the movementspace when the user robot 10 is moved by the user in the movement space.

The receiving unit 130 receiving the moving history of the user robot 10will be specifically described. The receiving unit 130 may receive amovement stoppage status of the user robot 10 based on the mapinformation acquired by the map acquiring unit 110.

The movement stoppage status indicates that the user robot 10 is notcleaning. Specifically, this means that the user is not operating theuser robot 10 and that moving history is no longer being generated.

When the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 occurs and isreceived by the receiving unit 130, the position of the user robot 10may be measured based on the received movement stoppage status.

The mobile robot 100 further includes a position measuring unit 180 formeasuring the position of the user robot 10. Specifically, the positionmeasuring unit 180 may establish a position where the moving of themobile robot 100 starts on the map, based on the movement stoppagestatus of the user robot 10.

Based on the measured moving area information, the control unit 190 maycontrol the driving unit 160 based on the moving history of the userrobot 10 and the map information of the movement space stored in thememory 140.

For example, the control unit 190 may cause the driving unit 160 to movethe main body 120 to an area with no moving history of the user robot10, the area that the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 hadoccurred.

Specifically, the moving history of the user robot 10 received by thereceiving unit 130 may be assumed to be information on an area that theuser robot 10 has cleaned, and the movement stoppage status of the userrobot 10 may be referred to as a history of the user robot 10 not moving(in other words, not cleaning). The generated movement stoppage statusof the user robot 10 may be compared with the map information to extractan area that has not been cleaned. The extracted area that has not beencleaned may be referred to as a moving area B (see FIG. 5 ).

Here, the moving area may be extracted by, for example, a method thatindicates, on the entire map, the route along which the user robot 10has moved, or excludes the route along which the user robot 10 has movedand only indicates an area in which the user robot 10 has not moved.

Assuming that the extracted moving area is an area that has not beencleaned by the user robot 10, it may be determined that the moving areais an area that the mobile robot 100 will clean. Accordingly, thecontrol unit 190 may cause the driving unit 160 to move the mobile robot100 to the moving area and clean by suctioning, for example, foreignmatter and dust in the vicinity.

The memory 140 may store a machine learning model trained using a dataset labeled for obstacles that restrict the movement of the main body120. That is, even when the information on the moving area is receivedby the receiving unit 130 and the mobile robot 100 is moved to themoving area, when an obstacle such as furniture or an object is placedin the moving area, it is difficult for the mobile robot 100 to move.Therefore, in order for the mobile robot 100 to move while avoiding theobstacle, an artificial intelligence algorithm is applied, wherein themachine learning model trained using the data set labeled for obstaclesis stored in the artificial intelligence algorithm. Thus, when themobile robot 100 is adjacent to the obstacle, the mobile robot 100 mayavoid the obstacle, based on the stored data set.

Based on this, it should be determined whether the moving area is amovement route along which the main body 120 may move. To this end, themobile robot 100 may further include a determining unit 150. When thedetermining unit 150 determines that an obstacle is detected in themovement route, the movement of the main body 120 or mobile robot 100along the movement route may be limited.

Specifically, the determining unit 150 may determine a movement routealong which the main body 120 may move in the moving area by inputtingan image of an external object photographed by the photographing unit124 into the machine learning model. That is, the algorithm may be setsuch that, when the external object in the image is an obstacle, a routehaving the obstacle is determined as a movement route that is notpossible, thereby limiting the movement of the main body 120.

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) described in the embodiments ofthe present disclosure is an area of computer engineering science andinformation technology that studies methods to make computers mimicintelligent human behaviors such as reasoning, learning, andself-improving.

In addition, artificial intelligence does not exist on its own, but israther directly or indirectly related to a number of other fields incomputer science. In recent years, there have been numerous attempts tointroduce an element of AI into various fields of information technologyto solve problems in the respective fields.

Machine learning is an area of artificial intelligence that includes thefield of study that gives computers the capability to learn withoutbeing explicitly programmed. More specifically, machine learning is atechnology that investigates and builds systems, and algorithms for suchsystems, which are capable of learning, making predictions, andenhancing their own performance on the basis of experiential data.Machine learning algorithms, rather than only executing rigidly-setstatic program commands, may be used to take an approach that buildsmodels for deriving predictions and decisions from inputted data.

As described above, the mobile robot 100 moved by the driving unit 160may acquire the map information of the movement space, and the acquiredmap information may be stored in the memory 140. In addition, the memory140 in which the map information is stored may store, for example, aplurality of items placed in the movement space photographed by thephotographing unit 124 and the shape of the movement space as images orvideos.

In addition, obstacles, such as furniture, objects, and pillars in abuilding, that should be avoided when the mobile robot 100 moves may bepreviously learned and stored in the memory 140. Thus, when an obstacleis detected in the moving area, the mobile robot 100 may avoid thedetected obstacle while moving.

As such, the moving history of the user robot 10 moved by the user maybe a basis in order for the mobile robot 100 to clean while moving inthe movement space. Hereinafter, the user robot 10 will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1A to 4 again.

The user robot 10 may be a cleaning device operated by a user asdescribed above. For example, the user robot 10 may be a wired vacuumcleaner, a wireless vacuum cleaner, and a hand vacuum cleaner, andhereinafter, a wireless vacuum cleaner (see FIG. 1B) will be describedas an example in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

The user robot 10 includes a user robot main body 15 that moves in themovement space. The user robot main body 15 may be formed in the shapeof a bar, as shown in FIG. 1B, but the present disclosure is not limitedby the shape of the user robot main body 15.

In addition, the user robot 10 includes a user robot receiving unit 11,wherein the user robot receiving unit 11 may receive the map informationthat is acquired by the mobile robot 100 while moving in the movementspace autonomously.

The received map information may be stored in a user robot memory 12.Here, the user robot memory 12 may also store the moving history of theuser robot 10 that has cleaned the movement space.

As such, the moving history of the user robot 10 is stored in the userrobot memory 12, and when it is determined that the movement of the userrobot 10 has stopped, the stored moving history of the user robot 10 maybe transmitted to the mobile robot 100 via a user robot transmittingunit 13.

Here, whether or not the movement of the user robot 10 has stopped maybe determined according to a predefined condition. Here, the predefinedcondition denotes whether or not a movement stoppage status of the userrobot 10 continues for more than a predetermined period of time. Thatis, it may be determined that the movement of the user robot 10 hasstopped when certain information, such as information on the movement ofthe user robot 10 not occurring for more than a predetermined period oftime or information on vibration in the user robot main body 15 notbeing generated for more than a predetermined period of time when a userrobot suction unit 18 suctions foreign matter or dust, is generatedthrough a motion sensor (not shown) mounted on the user robot 10.

The condition for the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 maybe whether or not the movement stoppage of the user robot 10 continuesfor more than a predetermined period of time from a specific time point.That is, when the moving history of the user robot 10 does not occur formore than a predetermined period of time from a specific time point, itmay be determined that the user robot 10 has finished the cleaning ofthe movement space. For example, when it is determined that the movinghistory of the user robot 10 does not occur for more than 10 minutes, itis determined that the user is not cleaning the movement space using theuser robot 10.

As such, when it is determined that the action of the user robot 10 hasbeen completed, the information on the movement stoppage status of theuser robot 10, which is to be transmitted to the mobile robot 100, maybe generated through a signal generating unit 14. Here, the signalgenerating unit 14 may generate the information on the moving area wherethe movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 had occurred.

Hereinafter, the information on the moving area generated by the signalgenerating unit 14 may be transmitted to the receiving unit 130 of themobile robot 100 via the user robot transmitting unit 13, and the mobilerobot 100 may move based on the information on the moving area receivedby the receiving unit 130.

In some implementations, the controllers 190 may include one or moreprocessors. In some implementations, the units 110-180 may correspond tothe one or more processors. In some implementations, the units 110-180may correspond to software components configured to be executed by theone or more processors.

As a result, when the mobile robot 100 acquires the map information ofthe movement space, the acquired map information may be transmitted tothe user robot 10. After the user robot 10, having received the mapinformation, cleans while moving in the movement space, the informationon an area that the user has cleaned or information on an area thatcould not be cleaned or has not been cleaned are transmitted to themobile robot 100. Here, the area that could not be cleaned or has notbeen cleaned by the user robot 10 is referred to as a moving area, andthe mobile robot 100 cleans the area that has not been cleaned whilemoving in the moving area.

Here, when an obstacle is placed in the moving area, the mobile robot100 may move while avoiding the obstacle according to previously learnedconditions. That is, the moving area may be divided into a cleanablespace and a non-cleanable space, based on the data set for obstaclesstored in the memory 140 of the mobile robot 100. More specifically,when furniture such as a dining table and a chair is placed in a space,it is determined that there is a space (a space below the dining tableor a space below chair legs) in which the mobile robot 100 may move, andthe space may be classified as the cleanable space and stored in thememory 140 of the mobile robot 100. When the entire surface of themoving area is blocked with objects, the space may be determined to bethe non-cleanable space and may be stored in the memory 140 of themobile robot 100 for the mobile robot 100 to avoid.

An embodiment for cleaning a movement space through an interactionbetween the user robot 10 and the mobile robot 100 will now be describedwith reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which, after a mobilerobot acquires a movement space map and a user robot moves in themovement space, an area in which the user robot has not moved is shownon the map, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, andFIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a modification of a user robot,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, adescription of the common parts previously described with reference toFIGS. 1A to 4 will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the mobile robot 100 acquires a map M of themovement space while moving in the movement space. Here, the acquiredmap M may be transmitted to any media capable of communicating with themobile robot 100, such as a user terminal, a wearable device, and atablet PC, and hereinafter, the transmission of the map to the userterminal T will be described as an example.

To this end, to connect with the terminal T, the mobile robot 100 mayinclude a device that includes hardware and software required fortransmission and reception of signals, such as control signals and datasignals, with another network device via wired or wireless connections.

Here, the network may include connections of network elements such ashubs, bridges, routers, switches, and gateways. The network may includea public network such as the Internet and a private network such as asecured private network of an organization, and may also include one ormore connected networks, for example, a multi-network environment.Access to the network may be provided via one or more wired or wirelessaccess networks. Further, the network may support 5G communication andan Internet of things (IoT) network for exchanging and processinginformation between distributed components such as objects.

The map M of the movement space acquired through the photographing unit124 of the mobile robot 100 may be transmitted to the user robot 10. Ina state in which the map M of the movement space is stored, the usercleans the movement space while moving the user robot 10. Here, an areaA that the user robot 10 has cleaned may be stored in the mapinformation.

When the user cleans the movement space by moving the user robot 10, anarea B that the user robot 10 has not cleaned may be extracted. Theinformation on the extracted area B that the user robot 10 has notcleaned may be transmitted to the mobile robot 100, and at the sametime, may be displayed on the user terminal T.

Based on the information on the area B that the user robot 10 has notcleaned, which has been transmitted to the mobile robot 100, the mobilerobot 100 may clean the area B that has not been cleaned.

Therefore, the mobile robot 100 performs additional cleaning of the areathat the user did not notice so that the movement space may be cleanedentirely.

When the user robot 10 cleans the movement space, a frequently missedarea may occur due to the user failing to recognize the area. To addresssuch an issue, it is possible to transmit the information on thefrequently missed area to the user terminal T so that the user mayrecognize the frequently missed area. Here, since the user terminal T isconnected to the user robot 10 via the network, the user robot 10 mayrecognize the information on the frequently missed area which has beentransmitted to the user terminal T. Thus, the user robot 10 may beprovided with a notification unit 17 in order to directly inform theuser of the information on the frequently missed area. Specifically,when the user moves the user robot 10 around the frequently missed area,it is determined by the user terminal T that the position of the userrobot 10 is close to the frequently missed area, and the notificationunit 17 is operated based on the determined information.

The notification unit 17 may be implemented as any one of an LED devicethat may display a flicker or a device that may produce a sound.

Alternatively, the information on the area frequently missed by the usermay be stored in the mobile robot 100. That is, after the user robot 10finishes cleaning, the mobile robot 100 receives all the information onthe area B that should be cleaned and the frequently missed area. Thus,the mobile robot 100 moves to clean both the area B that should becleaned and the frequently missed area.

A specific embodiment in which a movement space may be cleaned using themobile robot 100 and the user robot 10 will be described with referenceto the following drawings.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a moving process of a mobile robot,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 8 is aflowchart illustrating a moving process of a user robot according to anembodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG. 9 is a schematicflowchart illustrating a moving process of a mobile robot in a movementspace, through interaction between the mobile robot and a user robot,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, adescription of the common parts previously described with reference toFIGS. 1A to 6 will be omitted.

To start a moving mode of the mobile robot 100, the mobile robot 100 mayfirst acquire map information of a movement space in which the mobilerobot 100 moves (S110 and S120). The acquired map information may bestored in the memory 140 mounted in the mobile robot 100. Here, the mapinformation of the movement space may be previously formed andtransmitted to the mobile robot 100 or may be formed through informationacquired using various sensors while the mobile robot 100 moves in themovement space.

The map information of the movement space stored in the memory 140 maybe transmitted to the user robot 10 (S130). After the map information istransmitted to the user robot 10 and the user robot 10 receives andstores the map information, the user robot 10 may clean the movementspace while moving in the movement space. As a result of the user robot10 cleaning the movement space, the moving history of the user robot 10may be generated, and the generated moving history of the user robot 10may be transmitted to the mobile robot 100.

The moving history of the user robot 10 is information on the area thatthe user robot 10 has cleaned. The moving history of the user robot 10may be compared and cross-referenced with the map information acquiredby the mobile robot 100, and thus the mobile robot 100 may determine anarea that has not been cleaned by the user robot 10, in other words,receive a movement stoppage status of the user robot 10, based on themap information.

The movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 may be determined tobe an area that the mobile robot 100 should clean. That is, the movingarea of the mobile robot 100 may be established based on the movementstoppage status of the user robot 10 (S140).

Here, the beginning of the moving area may be established on the map Mbased on the received movement stoppage status of the user robot 10.That is, the movement starting point of the mobile robot 100 may beestablished so that the mobile robot 100 moves from the position wherethe movement of the user robot 10 has stopped.

When establishing the moving area of the mobile robot 100, the movinghistory of the user robot 10 and the map information may be determined(S142). As described above, the moving history of the user robot 10 iscompared and cross-referenced with the map information acquired by themobile robot 100, and thus, based on the map information, an area thathas not been cleaned by the user robot 10 is determined.

Thereafter, when an area that should be cleaned by the mobile robot 100is determined, it may be determined whether an obstacle is detected inthe area that should be cleaned (S144). An obstacle may be, for example,furniture, and objects, and the determining of the obstacle may beperformed according to a previously learned data set. For an area whereit is determined that an obstacle is detected, the movement of themobile robot 100 is restricted to prevent a collision between the mobilerobot 100 and the obstacle.

When the moving history of the user robot 10 and the map information aredetermined at the time of establishing the moving area of the mobilerobot 100, it may be determined whether the movement stoppage status ofthe user robot 10 occurs (S146).

The movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 is a condition fortransmitting the moving history of the user robot 10 during thetransmitting the moving history of the user robot 10 to the mobile robot100 (S16) as described later.

That is, when the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 occursaccording to a predefined condition and the mobile robot 100 receivesthe information on the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10,the moving area of the mobile robot 100 may be established.

Here, the predefined condition may be whether the user robot 10 does notmove in the moving area for more than a predetermined period of time.For example the predefined condition may be whether the motor of theuser robot 10 does not react for more than a predetermined period oftime, or whether the user robot suction unit 18 of the user robot 10suctions no dust or foreign matter for more than a predetermined periodof time.

After the moving area of the mobile robot 100 is established, the mobilerobot 100 may autonomously move along the established moving area(S150). The area where the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10had occurred, that is, the area that has not been cleaned, is cleanedautonomously by the mobile robot 100, thereby performing completecleaning of the movement space. Accordingly, the moving mode of themobile robot 100 may be terminated (S160).

The user robot 10 receives the map information of the movement spaceacquired by the mobile robot 100 before moving in the movement space(S10 and S12).

The user robot 10 having received the map information of the movementspace acquires the moving history while being moved by the user in themovement space (S14). The moving history acquired by the user robot 10may be information on an area that has been cleaned by the user robot10.

The acquired moving history of the user robot 10 may be transmitted tothe mobile robot 100 (S16). The moving area of the mobile robot 100 maybe established by the received moving history of the user robot 10.

Here, the user robot 10 may transmit the moving history to the mobilerobot 100 in real time, or may transmit the moving history to the mobilerobot 100 when the movement of the user robot 10 stops.

In this case, when the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10occurs according to a predefined condition, the moving history of theuser robot 10 is transmitted to the mobile robot 100. The predefinedcondition for causing the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10may be whether the user robot 10 does not move in the moving area formore than a predetermined period of time. For example, the predefinedcondition may be whether the motor of the user robot 10 does not reactfor more than a predetermined period of time, or whether the user robotsuction unit 18 of the user robot 10 suctions no dust or foreign matterfor more than a predetermined period of time.

As such, when the movement stoppage status of the user robot 10 occursaccording to the predefined condition, the information on the positionof the user robot 10, which is where the movement stoppage status of theuser robot 10 had occurred, may be transmitted to the mobile robot 100.The transmitted information on the position of the user robot 10 may bea reference for the mobile robot 100 to start moving.

As such, when the moving history of the user robot 10 is transmitted tothe mobile robot 100, the moving mode of the user robot 10 is terminated(S18).

The example embodiments described above may be implemented throughcomputer programs executable through various components on a computer,and such computer programs may be recorded in computer-readable media.Examples of the computer-readable media include, but are not limited to:magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape;optical media such as CD-ROM disks and DVD-ROM disks; magneto-opticalmedia such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and execute program codes, such as ROM, RAM, andflash memory devices.

The computer programs may be those specially designed and constructedfor the purposes of the present disclosure or they may be of the kindwell known and available to those skilled in the computer software arts.Examples of program code include both machine code, such as produced bya compiler, and higher level code that may be executed by the computerusing an interpreter.

As used in the present application (especially in the appended claims),the terms “a/an” and “the” include both singular and plural references,unless the context clearly states otherwise. Also, it should beunderstood that any numerical range recited herein is intended toinclude all sub-ranges subsumed therein (unless expressly indicatedotherwise) and therefore, the disclosed numeral ranges include everyindividual value between the minimum and maximum values of the numeralranges.

Also, the order of individual steps in process claims of the presentdisclosure does not imply that the steps must be performed in thisorder; rather, the steps may be performed in any suitable order, unlessexpressly indicated otherwise. In other words, the present disclosure isnot necessarily limited to the order in which the individual steps arerecited. Further, the steps included in the methods according to thepresent disclosure may be performed through the processor or modules forperforming the functions of the step. All examples described herein orthe terms indicative thereof (“for example”, etc.) used herein aremerely to describe the present disclosure in greater detail. Therefore,it should be understood that the scope of the present disclosure is notlimited to the example embodiments described above or by the use of suchterms unless limited by the appended claims. Also, it should be apparentto those skilled in the art that various alterations, substitutions, andmodifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims orequivalents thereof.

The present disclosure is thus not limited to the example embodimentsdescribed above, and rather intended to include the following appendedclaims, and all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives fallingwithin the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile robot comprising: a driving unitconfigured to move the mobile robot; a receiver configured to receivemovement history information of a user robot in a movement space; amemory configured to store map information of the movement space; andone or more controllers configured to: determine at least one area inthe movement space for moving the mobile robot based on the receivedmovement history information of the user robot; receive, via thereceiver, a movement stoppage status of the user robot based on the mapinformation; and determine a start location on the map information formoving the mobile robot based on the received movement stoppage statusof the user robot.
 2. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the one ormore controllers are further configured to cause the driving unit tomove the mobile robot to the determined at least one area in themovement space, wherein the at least one area corresponds to areas ofthe movement space where the user robot was not moved.
 3. The mobilerobot of claim 1, further comprising a camera, wherein the one or morecontrollers are further configured to: input an image captured by thecamera to a machine learning model stored in the memory, wherein themachine learning model is trained to recognize obstacles for movement ofthe mobile robot; determine a movement route of the mobile robot basedon an output of the machine learning model; and control the driving unitto move the mobile robot according to the determined movement route. 4.The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the one or more controllers areconfigured to: acquire the map information of the movement space basedon movement of the mobile robot in the movement space; and transmit themap information to the user robot via a transmitter.
 5. A user robot,comprising: a receiver configured to receive map information of amovement space from a mobile robot, wherein the map information isgenerated based on autonomous movement of the mobile robot in themovement space; a memory configured to store movement history of theuser robot in the movement space based on the received map information;and a transmitter configured to transmit the movement history to themobile robot when movement of the user robot is stopped according to apredefined condition.
 6. The user robot of claim 5, wherein thepredefined condition corresponds to the movement of the user robot beingstopped for at least a threshold period of time.
 7. The user robot ofclaim 6, wherein a signal indicating a movement stoppage status of theuser robot is transmitted to the mobile robot.
 8. The user robot ofclaim 7, wherein the signal further indicates a location in the movementspace where the movement stoppage status of the user robot occurred. 9.A method for operating a mobile robot, the method comprising: storingmap information of a movement space based on movement of the mobilerobot in the movement space; transmitting the map information to a userrobot operated by a user; receiving a movement stoppage status of theuser robot including a movement history of the user robot in themovement space; and determining a start location for moving the mobilerobot based on the received movement stoppage status of the user robot.10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: detecting an obstacle inthe movement space; and determining a movement route for the mobilerobot based on a position of the detected obstacle.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the obstacle is detected based on an output of amachine learning model configured to recognize obstacles for movement ofthe mobile robot using as input images of the movement space captured bythe mobile robot.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the start locationis determined based on a position where the movement stoppage status ofthe user robot occurred.
 13. The method of claim 9, further comprisingmoving the mobile robot to the start location when the movement stoppagestatus is maintained for at least a threshold period of time, whereinthe start location corresponds to a location where the movement stoppagestatus of the user robot occurred.
 14. A method for operating a userrobot, the method comprising: receiving map information of a movementspace from a mobile robot, wherein the map information is generatedbased on autonomous movement of the mobile robot in the movement space;storing movement history of the user robot in the movement space basedon the received map information; and transmitting the movement historyto the mobile robot when the movement of the user robot is stoppedaccording to a predefined condition.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinthe predefined condition corresponds to the movement of the user robotbeing stopped for at least a threshold period of time.
 16. The method ofclaim 14, wherein a signal indicating a movement stoppage status of theuser robot is transmitted to the mobile robot.
 17. The method of claim16, wherein the signal further indicates a location in the movementspace where the movement stoppage status of the user robot occurred. 18.A mobile robot comprising: a driving unit configured to move the mobilerobot; a receiver configured to receive movement history information ofa user robot in a movement space; a memory configured to store mapinformation of the movement space; and one or more controllersconfigured to: determine at least one area in the movement space formoving the mobile robot based on the received movement historyinformation of the user robot; acquire the map information of themovement space based on movement of the mobile robot in the movementspace; and transmit the map information to the user robot via atransmitter.